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Four Takeaways From the Chiefs’ 26-13 Loss to the Jaguars

Here are some overarching observations from Kansas City’s opening game of the 2024 preseason.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) smiles before a preseason NFL football game Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK

For the first time since Super Bowl LVIII, the Kansas City Chiefs got back on the football field for an organized game. The outcome wasn’t in their favor, however, as they fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday.

As expected, this certainly felt like a preseason environment. For the reigning champs specifically, things started slowly and momentum just never got going at TIAA Bank Stadium. The home team capitalized on opportunities in the first half, which ultimately proved to be the difference in a 13-point victory.

Although these games won’t matter much once the regular season rolls around, there’s plenty to discuss in the meantime. With that in mind, here are four takeaways from Saturday’s game.

A very limited look at the Chiefs’ first-team offense leaves room for improvement

Just about everyone knew that when Andy Reid outlined that his starters would play the entire first quarter on Saturday, he wasn’t likely to honor that in the game. That ended up being the case in Jacksonville, as stars like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce logged just one drive before exiting. Even rookies such as Xavier Worthy and Kingsley Suamataia saw minimal workloads in their first taste of NFL action.

The results on that first drive were mixed. Mahomes and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown started building chemistry on an 11-yard completion, then Brown left the game afterwards with an injury. Halfback Isiah Pacheco made back-to-back nice plays and Kelce got the ball once, but the possession fizzled out near the red zone. Harrison Butker’s 45-yard field goal capped off a scoring drive – folks will surely want to see more in preseason game No. 2.

Special teams mistakes need to be ironed out in the near future

In recent years, the Chiefs have relied on young or unproven players to contribute on special teams. The benefit of that briefly shined on a Jaden Hicks tackle when covering a punt, but multiple mistakes were made elsewhere. Mecole Hardman and Deneric Prince had a gaffe on a kickoff that led to a safety, and Nikko Remigio dropped a punt (which didn’t result in a turnover).

Part of the lapses on Saturday can be chalked up to the new NFL kickoff rules. That seems to be a work in progress, as evidenced by even the officiating crew being confused on the aforementioned safety. As everyone gets more and more comfortable and time passes, some of the awkwardness could be worked out. For a Dave toub-coached unit that is routinely one of the better-graded ones in football, though, things need to improve soon.

The (unofficial) debut of the Chiefs’ rookie class

In the first of many looks at general manager Brett Veach’s 2024 draft class, Hicks may have been the best player. Contrary to expectations, Worthy and Suamataia didn’t have their names called much but also didn’t receive a ton of opportunities to. Fourth-round tight end Jared Wiley had a fumble in his preseason debut, making it a learning experience.

As far as late-round or undrafted players are concerned, offensive linemen Hunter Nourzad and C.J. Hanson produced varying results. As a whole, the Chiefs’ second-team line wasn’t very good. The one standout from Veach’s UDFA class has to be Carson Steele, who has been doing a little bit of everything on offense this offseason. The UCLA product scored a touchdown and showcased his tough running style multiple times. All in all, this was a nice chance for the rookies to dip their toes into NFL waters.

There’s plenty to work on once Kansas City gets back to training camp

One of the beautiful things about the early part of the preseason is that teams can continue to work through some of their shortcomings during training camp. For Kansas City, the team will be back on the practice field on Monday morning and work for four days in a row. With a more defined list of things to focus on, practices should be even more beneficial than they already were.

Seven days exist between the Chiefs’ first and second preseason outings. That’s a lot of time to shuffle rotations, hammer home a few talking points and make adjustments. With camp ending on August 15, there’s one last stretch of time to take advantage of team work at the Missouri Western State University campus.